Urban Appalachians
Encyclopedia
Urban Appalachians are people from Appalachia
who are living in metropolitan areas outside of the region
. Because migration has been occurring for decades, most are not first generation migrants from the region but are long-term city dwellers. People have been migrating from Appalachia to cities outside the region ever since many of these cities were founded. It was not until the period following World War II
, however, that Appalachians became one of the major population groups in these metropolitan centers.
During the course of the late 19th and 20th century (the trend slowed down since 1970, but continues up to the 2000's), an estimated 40 million people from Appalachia migrated into newer industrial areas of the region (i.e. Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati) and others relocated farther up into urban states of the Northeast, Midwest and the West Coast.
In terms of national origin urban Appalachians reflect the varied heritage of the Appalachian region. They are Scots-Irish, English
, Scottish
, Irish
and Welsh
. Some are African-American or Native American
. Many have a German
ancestry. Others are descended from people of Central Europe
and Southern Europe
who were recruited to work in the coal and steel industries. Most Appalachians have a mixture of these heritages.
Urban Appalachians are also diverse in terms of the kind of places they lived in before migration. Many came from coal camps in the Cumberland Plateau
or Allegheny Mountains
. Others came from cities (rural people may moved into them) such as Knoxville
, Charleston, West Virginia
, the Huntington-Ashland area
, or Pittsburgh. Most, however, came from a rural area or small town.
Urban Appalachians might be white, black, or Native American, and they might be Protestant
, Catholic or Jewish
, or possess a sectarian heritage that defies denominational classification. They might be rich or poor, live in the inner city or in an affluent suburb. Most are employed in blue collar and service jobs, but urban Appalachians are also professionals, owners of businesses and managers. Some are artists, engineers, or architects. Many are educators and health care workers. During the period of the nation’s industrial expansion the majority worked in factories. More recently work in the service economy
is becoming more predominant.
All of this diversity, however, does not mean there is no such thing as an Appalachian heritage. A shared history and the common experience of living in the hills, the towns, the valleys or the foothill sections of the Appalachian region did produce a sense of regional culture that many urban Appalachians celebrate today.
and during the prosperous twenties. They were sometimes recruited to work in a specific factory and, during World War II
, thousands of Appalachians came to work in defense plants. Thousands more left the region in response to layoffs in the coal industry. When the mines shut down, some coal towns were entirely depopulated. During the 1950s, special bus runs were made to transport laid off miners and their families to metropolitan areas. It was during this 1940 to 1970 period that entire neighborhoods in the nation’s cities became Appalachian, but the foundations of those communities were often laid much earlier in the century. The period from 1940 to 1970 is often referred to as "The Great Migration".
), Armco (later AK Steel), U.S. Shoe, General Motors
, Chrysler
, Frigidaire
, Ford
, Champion Paper, Nutone, National Cash Register (now NCR Corporation
), Delco
, and Newport Steel, to name a few. These and many other factories large and small drew people to the cities from Appalachia. The location of these factories often determined the location of Appalachian neighborhoods. Concentrations of low cost housing became temporary “ports of entry” for some families and long term homes for others. Layoffs, changeovers, plant shutdowns and long stretches of unemployment were common experiences. Some faced discrimination in hiring or in their search for housing. For some black or white Appalachians, doors to good jobs or good neighborhoods were closed. Banks did not always want to make mortgage loans to Appalachian families in certain areas, and insurance companies often refused them coverage through the practice of redlining
.
Newcomers would often stay with relatives or friends until they got settled. When the layoffs came people might have to go back to the mountains for a time or “double up” with relatives in the city. Networks of family and friends were their main support. Soon churches were organized, becoming an additional means of spiritual and material sustenance. As neighborhoods became heavily Appalachian, churches, stores, bars, restaurants, and social clubs were established to serve this population. Promoted by the radio and recording industries, urban Appalachian musicians and singers flourished,. Today, Appalachian festivals in Dayton
and Cincinnati draw over 40,000 people annually to celebrate their heritage.
As more members of a family migrated and more children were born, family networks with rural roots and urban branches became larger and stronger than before migration. These family networks were flexible and often included non-kin in a network of mutual support, informal education and nurture. Kinship systems and a set of experiences first in the mountains and now in working class neighborhoods in the city are the core concepts in understanding urban Appalachian social structure. And now that nearly every Appalachian family has members in both rural and urban areas, there is very little difference between rural and urban Appalachians. The major differences among Appalachians are now most likely to appear along class lines.
Thousands of families experienced some form of failure in their efforts to make new lives in the city. Some returned to the Appalachian region, some stayed and experienced the worst of urban poverty. Most have fought the odds and have overcome, although many still await the opportunity to have good schools, good jobs and secure neighborhoods. Advocacy and service organizations such as the Urban Appalachian Council were formed to respond to the needs of this population.
Even the strongest families, especially in the inner city, experienced a variety of hardships. Children were ridiculed because of the way they talked, the way they dressed or because of where they lived. Going to school was often just a matter of survival with little education occurring. Unable to cope with the hostile environment of large and bureaucratic urban public schools, generations of inner city Appalachians have had to cope without the benefit of even a high school education.
A balanced view of urban Appalachians needs to include the ravages that decades of industrialization, out-migration, de-industrialization, and deterioration of core city neighborhoods have wreaked on some. But one should never stereotypically confuse the negative adaptations and pathologies that affect a minority of people from the mountains with all Appalachians. Appalachian culture does not cause poverty, crime, or school failure. Lack of good jobs, decent housing and good schools in safe neighborhoods have condemned millions of Americans of all backgrounds to lives on the margin of society in rural and urban enclaves. Urban Appalachians resent having the poverty stereotypes applied to their group, and rightly so. Every large group which has migrated to American cities has had similar experiences of facing put-downs, prejudice and outright discrimination. Through individual and collective efforts most have been able to raise their socioeconomic status over time. How long it takes the urban Appalachian poor to overcome the handicaps of poverty will depend in part on how the country responds to unemployment, underemployment, poor schooling and other urban ills. The rest depends on urban Appalachians’ ability to use the strengths of their heritage and adapt once again to economic shifts such as production jobs going overseas.
For the most part urban Appalachians are not rich and famous. They placed the welfare of their families and neighbors above their own advancement, moving up pretty much together or not at all. They are the men and women who made the refrigerators, assembled the automobiles, made paper boxes, and a thousand other products, and hauled them over the road in tractor trailers. They built bridges and highways. They made airplane engines and rocket components. They built churches and sometimes neighborhoods. Some longed for home as they saw their children and grandchildren grow up in the city or in suburban towns or in trailer parks. Some were glad to escape the hills in favor of greater opportunities in the city. All helped shape the life and culture of American cities in the last half of this century.
Is there anything unique about the experience of urban Appalachians? Perhaps, but the experience of this group is probably more remarkable in its similarity to that of other ethnic groups shaped by mass migrations, such as the Irish
, Italian
, German
and African American
communities. The processes of migration, community formation and long-term adjustment are similar in many ways. However, inner city white Appalachians now share with underemployed African-Americans and black Appalachians the tragedies and challenges of living in the post-industrial metropolis. Finding solutions in the form of jobs, good schools, decent housing, safe neighborhoods and other support for family and community life remains their greatest challenge.
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
who are living in metropolitan areas outside of the region
Region
Region is most commonly found as a term used in terrestrial and astrophysics sciences also an area, notably among the different sub-disciplines of geography, studied by regional geographers. Regions consist of subregions that contain clusters of like areas that are distinctive by their uniformity...
. Because migration has been occurring for decades, most are not first generation migrants from the region but are long-term city dwellers. People have been migrating from Appalachia to cities outside the region ever since many of these cities were founded. It was not until the period following World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, however, that Appalachians became one of the major population groups in these metropolitan centers.
During the course of the late 19th and 20th century (the trend slowed down since 1970, but continues up to the 2000's), an estimated 40 million people from Appalachia migrated into newer industrial areas of the region (i.e. Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati) and others relocated farther up into urban states of the Northeast, Midwest and the West Coast.
In terms of national origin urban Appalachians reflect the varied heritage of the Appalachian region. They are Scots-Irish, English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
, Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
, Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
and Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
. Some are African-American or Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
. Many have a German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
ancestry. Others are descended from people of Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
and Southern Europe
Southern Europe
The term Southern Europe, at its most general definition, is used to mean "all countries in the south of Europe". However, the concept, at different times, has had different meanings, providing additional political, linguistic and cultural context to the definition in addition to the typical...
who were recruited to work in the coal and steel industries. Most Appalachians have a mixture of these heritages.
Urban Appalachians are also diverse in terms of the kind of places they lived in before migration. Many came from coal camps in the Cumberland Plateau
Cumberland Plateau
The Cumberland Plateau is the southern part of the Appalachian Plateau. It includes much of eastern Kentucky and western West Virginia, part of Tennessee, and a small portion of northern Alabama and northwest Georgia . The terms "Allegheny Plateau" and the "Cumberland Plateau" both refer to the...
or Allegheny Mountains
Allegheny Mountains
The Allegheny Mountain Range , also spelled Alleghany, Allegany and, informally, the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the eastern United States and Canada...
. Others came from cities (rural people may moved into them) such as Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
, Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...
, the Huntington-Ashland area
Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH, Metropolitan Statistical Area
The Huntington-Ashland-Ironton metropolitan area is a United States metropolitan area that includes five counties in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio. As of the 2000 census, the MSA had a population of 288,649. A July 1, 2009 estimate placed the population at 285,624. The MSA is nestled along the...
, or Pittsburgh. Most, however, came from a rural area or small town.
Urban Appalachians might be white, black, or Native American, and they might be Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
, Catholic or Jewish
American Jews
American Jews, also known as Jewish Americans, are American citizens of the Jewish faith or Jewish ethnicity. The Jewish community in the United States is composed predominantly of Ashkenazi Jews who emigrated from Central and Eastern Europe, and their U.S.-born descendants...
, or possess a sectarian heritage that defies denominational classification. They might be rich or poor, live in the inner city or in an affluent suburb. Most are employed in blue collar and service jobs, but urban Appalachians are also professionals, owners of businesses and managers. Some are artists, engineers, or architects. Many are educators and health care workers. During the period of the nation’s industrial expansion the majority worked in factories. More recently work in the service economy
Service economy
Service economy can refer to one or both of two recent economic developments. One is the increased importance of the service sector in industrialized economies. Services account for a higher percentage of US GDP than 20 years ago...
is becoming more predominant.
All of this diversity, however, does not mean there is no such thing as an Appalachian heritage. A shared history and the common experience of living in the hills, the towns, the valleys or the foothill sections of the Appalachian region did produce a sense of regional culture that many urban Appalachians celebrate today.
The Great Migration
Appalachians by the thousands came to the cities under a great variety of circumstances during the 19th and 20th centuries. Early migrants came in trickles one family at a time over many decades. They came in response to specific opportunities such as the opening of a factory. They came during World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and during the prosperous twenties. They were sometimes recruited to work in a specific factory and, during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, thousands of Appalachians came to work in defense plants. Thousands more left the region in response to layoffs in the coal industry. When the mines shut down, some coal towns were entirely depopulated. During the 1950s, special bus runs were made to transport laid off miners and their families to metropolitan areas. It was during this 1940 to 1970 period that entire neighborhoods in the nation’s cities became Appalachian, but the foundations of those communities were often laid much earlier in the century. The period from 1940 to 1970 is often referred to as "The Great Migration".
Forming communities
For many Appalachians, factory work was what attracted them to urban areas — Wright Aeronautical (later General ElectricGeneral Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
), Armco (later AK Steel), U.S. Shoe, General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
, Chrysler
Chrysler
Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
, Frigidaire
Frigidaire
Frigidaire is a brand of consumer and commercial appliances. Frigidaire was founded as the Guardian Frigerator Company in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and developed the first self-contained refrigerator in 1916. In 1918, William C...
, Ford
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
, Champion Paper, Nutone, National Cash Register (now NCR Corporation
NCR Corporation
NCR Corporation is an American technology company specializing in kiosk products for the retail, financial, travel, healthcare, food service, entertainment, gaming and public sector industries. Its main products are self-service kiosks, point-of-sale terminals, automated teller machines, check...
), Delco
Delco
Delco may refer to:* Delaware County, Ohio* Delaware County, Pennsylvania* Delco, North Carolina* Delco Electronics...
, and Newport Steel, to name a few. These and many other factories large and small drew people to the cities from Appalachia. The location of these factories often determined the location of Appalachian neighborhoods. Concentrations of low cost housing became temporary “ports of entry” for some families and long term homes for others. Layoffs, changeovers, plant shutdowns and long stretches of unemployment were common experiences. Some faced discrimination in hiring or in their search for housing. For some black or white Appalachians, doors to good jobs or good neighborhoods were closed. Banks did not always want to make mortgage loans to Appalachian families in certain areas, and insurance companies often refused them coverage through the practice of redlining
Redlining
Redlining is the practice of denying, or increasing the cost of services such as banking, insurance, access to jobs, access to health care, or even supermarkets to residents in certain, often racially determined, areas. The term "redlining" was coined in the late 1960s by John McKnight, a...
.
Newcomers would often stay with relatives or friends until they got settled. When the layoffs came people might have to go back to the mountains for a time or “double up” with relatives in the city. Networks of family and friends were their main support. Soon churches were organized, becoming an additional means of spiritual and material sustenance. As neighborhoods became heavily Appalachian, churches, stores, bars, restaurants, and social clubs were established to serve this population. Promoted by the radio and recording industries, urban Appalachian musicians and singers flourished,. Today, Appalachian festivals in Dayton
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
and Cincinnati draw over 40,000 people annually to celebrate their heritage.
As more members of a family migrated and more children were born, family networks with rural roots and urban branches became larger and stronger than before migration. These family networks were flexible and often included non-kin in a network of mutual support, informal education and nurture. Kinship systems and a set of experiences first in the mountains and now in working class neighborhoods in the city are the core concepts in understanding urban Appalachian social structure. And now that nearly every Appalachian family has members in both rural and urban areas, there is very little difference between rural and urban Appalachians. The major differences among Appalachians are now most likely to appear along class lines.
Facing social problems and stereotypes
Some family networks were weakened or virtually destroyed by the moves from farm to coal camp to metropolitan area. These weakened families became the concern of social agencies and church-sponsored outreach ministries. Although relatively few of these families became welfare dependent, those few became the basis of the stereotype of the impoverished SAM or “southern Appalachian migrant.” Newspaper stories about welfare, crime and violence and “poverty posters” of large, poorly dressed Appalachian families caused many urban Appalachians to disassociate themselves from an open Appalachian identity. Negative stereotypes have caused much suffering among people from Appalachia who have moved to the cities.Thousands of families experienced some form of failure in their efforts to make new lives in the city. Some returned to the Appalachian region, some stayed and experienced the worst of urban poverty. Most have fought the odds and have overcome, although many still await the opportunity to have good schools, good jobs and secure neighborhoods. Advocacy and service organizations such as the Urban Appalachian Council were formed to respond to the needs of this population.
Even the strongest families, especially in the inner city, experienced a variety of hardships. Children were ridiculed because of the way they talked, the way they dressed or because of where they lived. Going to school was often just a matter of survival with little education occurring. Unable to cope with the hostile environment of large and bureaucratic urban public schools, generations of inner city Appalachians have had to cope without the benefit of even a high school education.
Creating a neighborhood culture
Some researchers have seen urban Appalachians as an emerging ethnic group, forming group cohesion and identity in a fashion similar to earlier “urban villagers” arriving in our nation’s cities. Anthropologist Rhoda Halperin describes the culture of an urban Appalachian neighborhood in terms of a set of adaptations Appalachians have made to their circumstances. She sees no distinction between rural Appalachian and urban migrant Appalachians and their descendants. The features of community life produced by their adaptations include “ . . . everyday practices - caring for children and the elderly, providing work, helping in times of crisis, granting favors, passing along information or lending support.” These practices, she says, are embedded in specific neighborhood structures that are old and enduring: the extended family, the church, and the neighborhood as a place that confers working class identity. Halperin identifies the strengths of an integrated working class neighborhood as strong intergenerational ties, informal educational processes through which adults instruct the young, intricate patterns of exchange that provide food, shelter, and care of dependents, longevity of families in the neighborhood, householding (provisioning) practices, and the gifts of oratory, storytelling, and writing skills.A balanced view of urban Appalachians needs to include the ravages that decades of industrialization, out-migration, de-industrialization, and deterioration of core city neighborhoods have wreaked on some. But one should never stereotypically confuse the negative adaptations and pathologies that affect a minority of people from the mountains with all Appalachians. Appalachian culture does not cause poverty, crime, or school failure. Lack of good jobs, decent housing and good schools in safe neighborhoods have condemned millions of Americans of all backgrounds to lives on the margin of society in rural and urban enclaves. Urban Appalachians resent having the poverty stereotypes applied to their group, and rightly so. Every large group which has migrated to American cities has had similar experiences of facing put-downs, prejudice and outright discrimination. Through individual and collective efforts most have been able to raise their socioeconomic status over time. How long it takes the urban Appalachian poor to overcome the handicaps of poverty will depend in part on how the country responds to unemployment, underemployment, poor schooling and other urban ills. The rest depends on urban Appalachians’ ability to use the strengths of their heritage and adapt once again to economic shifts such as production jobs going overseas.
Making a contribution
Most urban Appalachians have benefited in many ways from the move to the city, both economically and socially. Midwestern cities are home to thousands of practicing musicians, craftspeople, storytellers, poets, writers, and other artists. Appalachians have contributed to the civic, economic and cultural life of their communities serving as ministers, elected officials, union leaders, and in thousands of small businesses.For the most part urban Appalachians are not rich and famous. They placed the welfare of their families and neighbors above their own advancement, moving up pretty much together or not at all. They are the men and women who made the refrigerators, assembled the automobiles, made paper boxes, and a thousand other products, and hauled them over the road in tractor trailers. They built bridges and highways. They made airplane engines and rocket components. They built churches and sometimes neighborhoods. Some longed for home as they saw their children and grandchildren grow up in the city or in suburban towns or in trailer parks. Some were glad to escape the hills in favor of greater opportunities in the city. All helped shape the life and culture of American cities in the last half of this century.
Is there anything unique about the experience of urban Appalachians? Perhaps, but the experience of this group is probably more remarkable in its similarity to that of other ethnic groups shaped by mass migrations, such as the Irish
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
, Italian
Italian American
An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
, German
German American
German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
and African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
communities. The processes of migration, community formation and long-term adjustment are similar in many ways. However, inner city white Appalachians now share with underemployed African-Americans and black Appalachians the tragedies and challenges of living in the post-industrial metropolis. Finding solutions in the form of jobs, good schools, decent housing, safe neighborhoods and other support for family and community life remains their greatest challenge.
See also
- Appalachian OhioAppalachian OhioAppalachian Ohio is a bioregion and political unit in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio characterized by the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. The Appalachian Regional Commission defines the region as consisting of twenty-nine counties...
- Okies
- Ozark culture
- Upland SouthUpland SouthThe terms Upper South and Upland South refer to the northern part of the Southern United States, in contrast to the Lower South or Deep South.-Geography:There is a slight difference in usage between the two terms...
- Settlement schoolSettlement schoolSettlement schools are social reform institutions established in rural Appalachia in the early 20th century with the purpose of educating mountain children and improving their isolated rural communities. Settlement schools have played an important role in preserving and promoting the cultural...
s - Social and Economic Stratification in AppalachiaSocial and Economic Stratification in AppalachiaThe Appalachian region of the Eastern United States is home to over 20 million people and covers parts of mostly mountainous areas of 13 states, including Mississippi, Alabama, Pennsylvania, New York, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Maryland, and the...
- Irish Travellers
- Melungeons
- Rednecks
- Cookie tableCookie tableA cookie table is a wedding tradition said to originate in the Southwestern Pennsylvania home of Jackie Paule, where in place of or in addition to a wedding cake, a large table with different cookies is presented to guests at the wedding reception...